Remembering Nigeria's Hip Hop Pioneers; Junior and Pretty
Kingsley Momoh - Lagos
Breaking into a reggae dominated airwave of a few numbers of radio stations and television stations was a big deal before the advent of private television and acceptance of what we now call Afro hip hop. Thus, for a rap duo to attain such a feat means they must have made powerful impressions.
Junior and Pretty were the most successful of a crop of new entrants into the music scene in the early 90s. Now defunct Clapperboard TV was a great avenue with the weekend rap show where we regularly had the likes of the duo making sense with pigin English rap on heavy rap beats.
Clapperboard had the weekend show on LTV in those days before they eventually started out as a TV channel. And when Monica was released, it was a novel and indeed a hit without measure. And like it has been said many times; “They came years too early”. Many would have loved their financial fortunes to be different from what they must have made going by what music acts of today make. Their pioneering venture into what we know today mostly as Afro hiphop passed through the thick and thin of acceptance by Nigerians and the media which at that period must have preferred reporting about foreign rap songs. Nigerian rap would have not made commercial sense to anybody not to talk of the few corporate entities that could support music at the time.
The boys soaked their lyrics in comical stories that listeners could easily flow with as is seen in Monica and later Bolanle.
After Junior and Pretty we have had many other good pidgin acts that also made some credible moves with a song or two like Emphasis with a beautiful album produced by Charly boy’s New wave. Their hit song, “which one you dey” is still worth listening to but couldn’t stand the heat of the fast paced growing music industry. Another group I can remember now is one known as HM boys, I can’t remember their hit song but I remember they were a regular on NTA channel 10 of Victoria Island, Lagos (It is now located at Tejuosho).
Thus, Junior and Pretty stood mightily tall among the lot to the extent it seems there were no rivals. They performed at major events and they had fans across the country. The world didn’t let them know what wonder technology could do to the business of music.
Breaking into a reggae dominated airwave of a few numbers of radio stations and television stations was a big deal before the advent of private television and acceptance of what we now call Afro hip hop. Thus, for a rap duo to attain such a feat means they must have made powerful impressions.
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| Pretty & Junior Photo Credit, Femi Akintunde -Johnson FAJ |
Clapperboard had the weekend show on LTV in those days before they eventually started out as a TV channel. And when Monica was released, it was a novel and indeed a hit without measure. And like it has been said many times; “They came years too early”. Many would have loved their financial fortunes to be different from what they must have made going by what music acts of today make. Their pioneering venture into what we know today mostly as Afro hiphop passed through the thick and thin of acceptance by Nigerians and the media which at that period must have preferred reporting about foreign rap songs. Nigerian rap would have not made commercial sense to anybody not to talk of the few corporate entities that could support music at the time.
The boys soaked their lyrics in comical stories that listeners could easily flow with as is seen in Monica and later Bolanle.
After Junior and Pretty we have had many other good pidgin acts that also made some credible moves with a song or two like Emphasis with a beautiful album produced by Charly boy’s New wave. Their hit song, “which one you dey” is still worth listening to but couldn’t stand the heat of the fast paced growing music industry. Another group I can remember now is one known as HM boys, I can’t remember their hit song but I remember they were a regular on NTA channel 10 of Victoria Island, Lagos (It is now located at Tejuosho).
Thus, Junior and Pretty stood mightily tall among the lot to the extent it seems there were no rivals. They performed at major events and they had fans across the country. The world didn’t let them know what wonder technology could do to the business of music.
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